Bill to ban letting fees in England
The Tenant Fees Bill will mean it will be illegal to charge tenants in England for letting fees.
From June 1 letting agents and landlords will only be able to hold an equivalent of six weeks rent as a refundable deposit, or five weeks rent where annual rent is less than £50,000.
As it stand, tenants can be charged for a wide variety of administrative fees; including new tenancy fees, referencing fee charges and tenancy renewal. Agents and landlords found to be charging fees from June will face prosecution and fines of £5,000 for every fee charged.
Therefore renters who have larger deposits, of either more than five or six weeks rent, may be due a refund when the bill comes in to place.
The Tenant Fees Bill was born from the campaign #MakeRentingFair, launched by Editor-at-large for Grazia Victoria Spratt. Through the combination of effort from Spratt, Baroness Olly Grender, the Liberal Democrats and charity Shelter, the UK government moved to change the law on letting fees.
In 2016 Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed in his Autumn Statement that unjustifiable and unfair letting agents’ fees would be banned via the Tenant Fees Bill.
The bill is currently waiting to be signed into law by her majesty the Queen.
